Asuka's Dolls
by 808Lionfire
Summary: Under the care of Fairy Tail once again, Asuka generously brings her doll house to play with everyone! Much to her delight, someone accidentally reads another foreign spell off of a job flyer and, surprisingly, it wasn't completely Natsu's fault. Only Mavis knows how to fix it. Literally.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I wasn't planning on posting this story until it was completed because who knows how long this will be. It's a short story, I can tell you that for sure. I'm betting either on three or four chapters (maybe it will be a two-shot, I didn't plan it that far). It was originally going to be a one-shot but like always, I went into long-term mode. So this first chapter will be 4.5k+ words. Rated T because of paranoia.**

**I hope you enjoy and I'll see you in the next one! -808Lionfire**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima**

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**Summary:** Under the care of Fairy Tail once again, Asuka generously brings her doll house to play with everyone! Much to her delight, someone accidentally reads another foreign spell off of a job flyer and, surprisingly, it wasn't completely Natsu's fault. Only Mavis knows how to fix it. Literally

**Pairings:** Mavis/Fairy Tail family, Azlack/Bisca/Asuka family, Asuka/Mira/Cana partnership, Gajeel/Levy, Natsu/Lucy, Grey/Juvia, Bixlow/Lisanna, implied Jellal/Erza, implied Happy/Carla, implied Natsu/Lisanna, implied Bixlow/Erza, implied Natsu/Gray, implied Bixlow/Lucy, Asuka/Lucy/Levy/Erza/Mira/Juvia/Cana sisterly and Fairy Tail being Fairy Tail.

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_Asuka's Dolls_

"Look! Look!" A young, black-haired child cried happily as she burst through the guild doors.

Heads turned towards the source, some peaking past the cloud of dirt and bodies that currently occupied half of the guild hall. Some smiled and waved at her while others eyes widened as she obliviously ran straight through Fairy Tail's recent brawl. People jumped up from their seats and rushed over to stop them, getting sucked in then spit back out with bruises and minor injuries. A second later, the child somehow exited the cloud without even a scratch on her head. The women (and others who weren't injured or convinced to fight) let out a large breath of relief. The child's cowboy hat bounced on her head as she ran towards the group of girls that collected near the bar.

A shocked expression crossed the child's face before she face-planted straight into the ground, her boots getting caught on a unleveled plank. Four women rushed over, cooing at the girl to stop the tears that were already streaming down her face. Two white-haired women, one with short hair and the other with long hair, gently lifted the girl back to her feet while a blonde-haired girl gently wiped away the child's tears. The tiny, short blue-haired woman smiled kindly as she patted the child's hat back onto her head.

"Asuka!" A spiky, black-haired man cried after the child, worry shining in his eyes.

He carefully inched around the brawl, trying to get to his daughter. He would have made it too if a foot hadn't shot out (purely by accident) and caught him off-guard. The man fell, his butt harshly hitting the wooden floor of the hall. A hand shot out of the cloud of feet, dirt and heads, to pull the man in. His eyes widened and his nails scraped against the wood as he tried desperately to grab onto something.

Before he was dragged in completely, his eyes caught on a tall, green-haired beauty he had the honor to call his wife. She stared at him helplessly as tears pricked the corners of his eyes, a hand desperately reaching out to her.

"B-Bisca," He called out pitifully before disappearing in the brawl.

"A-Azlack," Bisca, the green-haired woman, sweat-dropped after seeing her husband disappear, "I'm sorry. Good luck."

She easily walked past the brawl (the mysterious pull not willing to drag in women) with a large box in her arms. By the time she reached the bar, the four women had stopped Asuka's tears and sat her on a stool. Erza Scarlett, a red-headed woman wearing her usual Heart Kreuz armor, had given the child a slice of her strawberry cake. It would have been surprising, but the red-headed woman had a soft spot for Fairy Tail's only child. Bisca sighed heavily as she gently placed the large box onto the countertop, sliding it it forward just in case.

"Did you thank them, Asuka?" Bisca asked, a motherly tone entering her voice.

"Ah!" The black-haired child gasped around a mouthful of cake, swallowing heavily when she heard her mother's groan of disapproval. She scrambled off of her seat and dropped to the ground, bowing gratefully to the girls. "Thank you, Mira-nee, Lisa-nee, Levy-nee and Lucy-nee! And thank you for the cake, Erza-nee!"

The women let out a chorus of 'Don't worry about it' and 'You're welcome's. Bisca smiled gratefully at the girls before bending down and helping her daughter back onto the bar stool. Mira handed the green-haired woman a glass of water to which Bisca accepted thankfully.

"What's in the box?" The long, white-haired barmaid asked when she was handed back the glass.

"Oh, that?" Bisca inquired, pointing back at the large box she had placed on the counter. At Mira's nod, the green-haired woman smiled, "It's a doll house. Laki made it after we helped her on a mission a while back."

"A doll house?" Lucy, the blonde woman, smiled, leaning against the counter, "I used to have one when I was I child. My mother had made a replica of our house-"

"Mansion," Levy sang out teasingly.

"_-house_," Lucy stressed, giving her friend a half-hearted glare before turning back to Bisca and Asuka, "And I had mini dolls of everyone who lived there. I loved it."

"That's just like my doll house!" Asuka cried happily, wiggling in her seat, "Show them, Mama!"

"Okay, okay," Bisca laughed, pacifying her daughter as she pulled the box closer.

The women surrounded the box, peering intently at the unveiling. The green-haired woman smiled, purposely pulling the box off as slow as she could. When the entire wooden structure was revealed, Bisca heard a chorus of gasps coming from every single one of their mouths. She could relate; the first time she saw the doll house, she was in awe and shocked to silence. Looking around her now, she could see a couple of teary eyes while other stared in heavy nostalgia.

Mira gasped, her eyes filling happily, "I-it looks exactly like-"

"It's beautiful," Erza commented in awe, her fork dropping out of her hand and clattering to her plate, the sound falling on deaf ears.

The doll house was large, causing a wonder to how the cardboard box fit all of that within. It's bright colors contrasted against the dark wood of the bar, standing as proudly as the old guild building once did. The design of the replica was so intricate, it was like looking one of Reedus's paintings of the hall before it was destroyed in the Phantom Lord fiasco. Bisca smiled happily, glad to see the old guild once again and happy to see that the girls loved it almost as much as she did.

"So nostalgic," Lucy breathed, her hand gently tracing the banners that hung at the top, "It's like it was never destroyed."

"And who's fault was that, Lu-chan?" Levy asked teasingly, her finger gently wiping away a stray tear.

"Your boyfriend's fault, Levy-chan," Lisanna giggled, the blue-haired woman flushed deeply before stammering a indignant protest. The girls shared a well deserved laugh, any and all of the negative memories flowing out with it.

"Laki told Asuka that she could choose however she wanted to design it," Bisca informed, smiling down at her daughter who returned it, "Asuka asked for this version of Fairy Tail."

"But Asuka wasn't born during this version of Fairy Tail," Erza inquired, curiously eyeing the Connell mother and daughter.

"I wanted to see the old Fairy Tail!" Asuka smiled.

Erza smiled fondly at the young child, "I see."

"And that isn't even the best part," Bisca pointed out, "Everything in the doll house is functional. The doors, windows, curtains, you name it!"

The green-haired woman demonstrated each of the functions, pleased when the girls 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed. She then turned the entire structure and flipped a latch that was on the side. With built suspense, she slowly opened the building. Unlike actual doll houses that opened up from the middle of the structure, the old guild building only opened the front face, giving perfect view into the entire canteen area but the other rooms both on the top and bottom floors (ex. Infirmary, kitchen, Master's Office, etc.) had either been blocked off or had a door.

The canteen was completely stocked with tiny plastic bottles that replicated the wine bottles and glass mugs. The tables and the stools were also completely functional but the tables were wisely infused with the floor. Bisca carefully twisted the knob on the infirmary door and the women carefully peeked inside. There were beds that were completely soft to the touch (Lisanna and Levy would back that up) and even the detailing work in that room was perfect. Master's Office was locked, of course, but Bisca informed them that it looked exactly like how it did before. There were nicer tables on the second floor for when the S-class mages were the only ones allowed up there.

The best part were the lights. It was completely powered by a small lacrima, giving the realistic glow that the guild once had.

"It's perfect," Mire claimed in awe, "It's exactly like how I remembered it!"

"You said Laki made this?" Lucy asked, completely taken aback. At Bisca and Asuka's nod, the blonde smiled, "It's even more detailed than how I would have done."

"Laki always had a impeccable memory," Levy commented, a sweet smile on her face.

"Did you bring you doll house here to show us, Asuka-chan?" Lisanna asked the black-haired child.

"Yep!" Asuka confirmed, a large smile on her face as she nodded excitedly, "Mama was really happy when she saw it and I wanted everyone to be happy too!"

"We are extremely happy, Asuka," Erza smiled, gently patting the girl on the head, "Thank you for showing this to us. We shall treasure this precious memory."

"Ah, so you showed them the doll house," Azlack's tired voice broke through, causing all the girls to turn.

"Oh, Azlack," Bisca cooed at her husband's ruffled appearance, the others tried to hold back her laughs.

"Papa!" Asuka cried, jumping into her father's arms, "Where did you go?"

"Just had to do some..." Azlack trailed off before continuing tiredly, "Stuff."

Lucy and Levy were the first to crack, trying to hid their snickers behind their hands. Erza smiled in sympathy while Lisanna excused herself to the kitchen, her face red from keeping in her laughter. Mira smiled politely and offered a drink to the man. Azlack flushed, gratefully accepting the drink that the white-haired barmaid offered. Erza excused both herself and Lucy before they stood up and walked towards the request board. Levy smiled politely before leaving with a wave.

Azlack sighed, sitting heavily on the stool that Asuka once occupied. Never will he ever participate in another guild brawl, not that he willingly joined this one. He was sure he had vowed that a hundred guild brawls ago though. The only thing that got his mind off of him, once again, almost losing his life was the black-haired child that snuggled comfortably in his arms. It's all for her, after all.

"Are you two going out on a job today?" Mira asked, pulling a glass from under the bar and started to polish it.

"Yeah," Bisca smiled, "We were wondering if we could leave Asuka in here for a day."

"Of course!" Mira exclaimed, a bright smile adorned her face, "We love watching her!"

"It's just until this afternoon," Azlack informed, pulling the poster out of his pocket, "We chose it yesterday, but we had to figure out some stuff before we registered."

"Oh, you're going to Onibas?" Mira asked, gently placing the glass onto the wooden countertop, "I'll log it, are you leaving now?"

"As soon as possible," Bisca smiled before kneeling in front of her daughter, "Mama and Papa are going out, sweetie. Mira-nee and everyone else is going to stay and play with you alright?"

Asuka pouted, drawing her large eyes on her mother. When the green-haired woman continued to smile, unfazed, Asuka turned her pleading eyes on her father. Azlack stared down at his daughter, blankly looking back. Mira knew that was all an act though because not even a second later, the black-haired man started to sweat. His daughter always had been his greatest weakness, that's how fathers usually are. Unfortunately, Asuka also noticed this seeing that she widened her eyes even more. Bisca's slight whack to the back of her husband's head caused him to lurch forward.

"W-we'll be b-back tonight," Azlack smiled shakily, forcing himself to look away. He reached back to grasp his wife's hand in his own, tugging her towards the entrance, "C-come on, B-Bisca. We'll miss the t-train!"

"Mama and Papa loves you, sweetie!" Bisca called back with a wave right before the doors slammed shut.

"You have him wrapped around your little finger," Cana's drunken laugh made both Asuka and Mira turn to the brunette.

"Cana!" Mira scolded when the brunette lifted the barrel of wine to her lips, "Don't drink in front of Asuka! You're setting a bad example!"

"Haha!" Cana let out a gut straining laugh, dropping the empty barrel onto the bar, "That's classic! This coming from the girl who got Natsu to compete against Asuka in a shooting competition the last time we watched her, convinced Lucy to watch them and told Asuka she would get a whole cake if she got them to kiss each other."

"Cana!" Mira scolded in a panicked voice, covering her friend's mouth with her hand, "Not so loud! They might hear you!"

"And I didn't get any cake," Asuka pouted.

"That's because you didn't complete the job," Mira informed tenderly, "Like when you're old enough to go on missions, you have to complete the job before getting the reward."

"Oh, okay," Asuka sulked, her hat dropping to hide her face. Mira let out a disgusted squeal right when Cana let out another loud, drunken laugh. The white-haired barmaid shot a glare at the brunette before turning to the child whose face light up like a Christmas tree. "Can I try again today?"

Mira smiled happily, "You can try! But I don't think Natsu and Lucy will fall for the same plan..."

"Ah," Cana smiled, "You can leave that planning part to me. I know the perfect route to take. I've been meaning to play a prank on the guild, Mavis knows how long since the last one." This got both Mira and Asuka interested.

"Mind letting us in on this plan of yours?" Mira asked, leaning over the bar.

"I just need to know if you'll follow along," Cana smirked.

The white-haired barmaid and the black-haired child looked at each other. Even though she was young, Asuka knew exactly who Cana Alberona was and what she did on her spare time. There was no secrets within the guild, especially between these three. Turning back to the sobering Card Mage, they nodded in unison. If possible, Cana's smirk grew.

"That's good news," She praised before standing and winking at the pair, "Now the plan is in motion. Just follow my lead, ladies."

* * *

"Hey, Lucy! Erza!"

A spiky, black-haired man called out to the blonde and the red-headed mage. The pair turned around curiously, wondering what was so important that they had to stop looking for an appropriate job. The man, Gray Fullbuster, waved as he jogged towards them. The woman sweat-dropped, seeing a missing article of clothing every time they blinked at him. By the time he got to where they were standing, he was already in his boxers.

"Gray," Lucy muttered, face-palming, "Your clothes."

"Oh! Crap!"

"Oh, Gray-sama!" A blue-haired woman cried from behind a support beam, her eyes locked onto her beloved's naked form, "Juvia admires your boldness!"

"What did you want?" Erza asked when the Ice mage returned with a pair of pants on.

"Cana told me to give this to you," Gray muttered as he held out a folded piece of paper, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "I don't know why though. She just popped up out of nowhere and told me to."

"And you trusted her?" Lucy asked skeptically, knowing exactly how it feels to be caught up in one of Cana's pranks.

"She told me not to peek but I did," The Ice mage shrugged, "It's just a job flyer. She said she would have given it to Levy but she thinks you two have more experience and could decipher it faster."

"I don't think I like the sound of that," The blonde muttered, taking the paper from him and unfolding it. Erza cautiously peeked over her shoulder and stared at the flyer's contents.

"What harm can it do?" Gray asked.

"That's the wrong thing to ask."

"I concur."

"Hey, Luce!" A certain salmon-haired mage greeted as he walked up to the group.

"Oh hey, Natsu," Lucy greeted back, completely disregarding the fact that they met outside of the guild hall earlier.

"What are you guys doing?" The Fire Dragon slayer asked curiously. Once seeing the flyer in the woman's hand, he immediately brightened and peeked over her shoulder, "Is that a job? Are we taking it?"

Before he could see anything though, all three of the other mages slapped a hand over his eyes. Combining all of their strengths, Natsu barely had time to grab something before he flew across the guild and landed on another member. Once he recovered though, he and the other member immediately got into an argument, creating another guild brawl. The group sweat-dropped. Natsu was usually the cause of most of the brawls, but they couldn't help but blame themselves for this one.

"So what do you think the flyer means?" Gray asked, adverting their attention.

"I'm not sure," Erza muttered, crossing her iron clad arms.

"Me neither," Lucy frowned, "I think I might have to ask Levy on this one, even though Cana asked us."

"I don't think she meant that only you two could see it," Gray shrugged.

"But we still don't know what this spell means or does," Erza pointed out, "I say that we keep as many people out of this as we can."

The three stood in contemplative silence before muttering in unison, "Especially Natsu."

"Okay, here's the plan," Lucy announced when they finally got over the nightmare of what would happen in their heads, "Gray, I need you to distract Natsu so he's as far away from the flyer as possible."

The man nodded before turning and bounding towards the settling brawl. Lucy then turned towards the Water mage that was still hiding behind the support beam, only this time, she was glaring at her 'Love Rival'. The blonde felt a chill run down her spine as she went against every single cell in her body to beckon the woman over. Still glaring, Juvia marched over with something that seemed like a deadly intent in her eyes.

"Juvia, I know you're the only one that can distract Gray!" Lucy informed quickly, spilling out her best excuse to pacify the Water mage. Like she hoped, Juvia instantly calmed down, her eyes softening at the Celstial mage.

"Juvia is pleased that Love Rival knows where she stands," The namesake smiled joyfully and trapped Lucy in a bone-crushing hug before releasing her.

"Y-yeah," Lucy choked out, having to hold the railing for support. "Y-you're the only one who can d-distract G-Gray," She repeated, "Natsu knows we're trying to keep something from him so he's going to try and rile Gray to the point where he would confess. I need you to stop Gray from confessing."

"G-Gray-sama confessing to N-Natsu-san?" Juvia stuttered out, a blush taking over her cheeks before a deadly aura surrounded her. Lucy immediately feared for her partner's life, knowing she worded that horribly wrong. Juvia turned her sharp eyes on the two men who were currently starting yet _another_ brawl, "Love Rival!"

Erza and Lucy watched in horror as Juvia started to march angrily towards the brawl. Even though Lucy was planning to take Erza with her to ask for Levy's help, she knew she couldn't do it. The two women shared a look before nodding urgently. The blonde watched as Erza re-equipped her bluntest sword and followed after the Water mage who wanted the head of a certain salmon-haired man.

Lucy quickly turned on her heel and scanned the guild for her blue-haired best friend. She cursed under her breath before switching her objective and looking for a intimidating Iron Dragon Slayer. Once finding him, she peered from where she was standing and cheered when she saw the black-haired man block a stool from flying his way. Usually, when he was alone, if Gajeel had a stool fly at him, he'd immediately attack the one who threw it. But certain cases, like this one, if Levy was by him, he would continue to sit there.

Lucy thanked her lucky stars that he continued to sit there.

"Levy-chan!" The blonde called, quickly making her way over to the pair.

Gajeel glared at her from the corner of her eye, making her give him a defiant look. The Iron Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes with a scoff, returning to his bowl full of screws and metal scraps. Levy, however, leaned back far enough so she could peer around the black-haired man's back. With a smile, the bluenette smiled happily and waved her over.

"What can I do for you, Lu-chan?" Levy asked, unfazed when Gajeel scoffed at her wording.

"I was hoping you'd help me decipher a spell," Lucy replied immediately, snagging a seat in front of the Script mage.

"Did-"

"-Natsu see it?" Lucy finished. Levy nodded. "I don't think so, he might have gotten a peek but not enough to actually read it out loud."

"That's good," Levy sighed in relief, "I really didn't want it to be like last time."

"Salamander is dumb enough to read an unknown spell out loud," Gajeel scoffed, shoving a sheet of metal into his mouth before chewing loudly, "I wouldn't put it past him."

Lucy pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket and spread it carefully out on the table. She then flipped it around and pushed it towards the bluenette with a grimace. Despite his air of indifference, Gajeel curiously peeked over the Script mage's shoulder to peer down at the paper. His pierced eyebrows drew down in confusion as he glared at the foreign words on the paper. Lucy's attention drifted as someone called her name, quite loudly too.

"Ah, crap!" The blonde cursed, quickly standing up, "Levy-chan, I'll be right back. Make sure no one else looks at the spell, we don't know what it does nor do we know what the affects are." With out a reply, Lucy dashed towards the other side of the Guild, "What are you doing you idiots!"

"This is ancient script," Levy muttered absentmindedly, "It isn't that hard to decipher but it will take some time." The bluenette reached towards the pile of books from the seat next to her and pulled a out a notebook. She then grabbed a pen, flipped to a blank page and started to scribble furiously. "This combination loosely translates to 'sole' and 'pair' unless this character is actually flipped. Meaning that 'sole' would also flip, causing the translation to be 'soul' and the last translation to stay as 'pair'. But then why would the next line start off with 'youth'?"

"I don't understand a lick of what you're sayin', Shrimp," Gajeel grumbled, shoving a couple of iron nails into his mouth.

His comment blew right over her head though as she continued to scribble away. The Iron Dragon Slayer frowned, the feeling of something watching them washed over him. When he looked up, he saw a round, freaky wooden _thing_. It had a face painted on it's front with tiny blue wings sprouting out of the sides. A sense of familiarity shot through him the longer he stared at it. But before he could even get a word out of his mouth, the thing flew away and disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.

"What the fuc-"

"Ah! I get it!" Levy exclaimed, shooting up in delight. Gajeel's eyes shot over towards the tiny woman, surprised. She gave him a determined grin before slouching over her book and scribbling furiously once again, "It's not 'youth' meaning age, it's 'youth' meaning size! That's why the next character translates to 'height' instead of 'time'!"

Once again, Gajeel found himself not understanding a word from the small woman. He just nodded as if he did and continued to listen to her mini-dialogue. None one, not even the ones searching for him, noticed the salmon-haired mage sneakily heading towards one of Raijinshu's members. The also hadn't noticed the words they exchanged or the sly smirk on Natsu's face. No one noticed one of Bixlow's creepy puppets missing nor did they notice the words it had whispered when it came back.

What they did notice was the blinding magic circle that spread across the guild's floor and the terrified screams.

* * *

_Minutes Earlier_...

"Are you sure this is safe?" Mira asked as she watched Levy furiously scribble on the paper.

"Of course!" Cana laughed, taking a large gulp from her mug, "I paid good money for that spell! The man said it's not life threatening at all and the spell will wear off... eventually. That's all I need to know!"

"Cana!"

"Don't wory, don't worry!" Cana reassured the white-haired barmaid, dismissively waving her hand in the air, "Before I bought it, I did a fortune telling with my cards. The future card said it would all turn out fine or to be specific 'How you'd expect'."

"And what about the others?" Mira asked, dropping her voice to a whisper.

Asuka played with her doll house a few seat over but they didn't want her hearing this part of the plan. They did feel a bit of guilt about dragging the small child into their less than honorable plans, but the young Connell did so well last time! Despite the plan not going the way they hoped, even Mira had been proud. And pride from her even when a plan fails... that's saying something.

"The past said that there was calm with a hint of mischievous intent and the two current cards had..." The brunette trailed off before shrugging, "The two current cards had chaos and confusion. But it'll be fine, we're Fairy Tail after all!"

Mira pursed her lips, a sinking feeling in her gut, "I hope you're right, Cana."

"When am I ever wrong?"

"So why didn't you want me to see the poster?" Mira asked suspiciously, placing a hand to her cheek. Cana just shook her head in reply, a large smirk on her face. "I still have a bad feeling, but I trust you."

"Atta girl!" Cana laughed drunkenly, giving Mira a good ol' slap on the back, "It's about time that you admitted you-"

The brunette hadn't had time to finish her sentence because soon, a large, golden light encircled the entire guild floor and chaos ensued.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I couldn't help but keep running on with this chapter. If you felt like I ended it abruptly, then that's probably true. So, you lovelies get a 5k+ chapter! YAY! Let's rejoice! Slight language in this chapter, but only once or twice (pfft). I want to thank everyone who has supported this story and tell you guys that _you are awesome_! **

**Thank you, it really means a lot to get feedback even if it's just a favorite or a follow.**

**But before I drag this A/N on, I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima**

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_Asuka's Dolls_

The guild was still in chaos even when the magic circle disappeared. The blinding light in the guild slowly faded as the natural illumination from the sun resumed it's work. Some had knocked out from the pressure the light had done to them while the others just continued to scream and race around like chickens without a head. As gross as that sounds.

Levy groaned as she lifted her head from her notebook page, a thick blue line stretched across her cheek from the inking. Vibrations thundered from where she lay like an earthquake took over the entire city of Magnolia. She watched blearily as people ran around, completely freaking out. The bluenette, however, never understood why. When Jet dashed past her table, screaming as if she was missing, she frowned.

"Jet!" Levy called out. The man either hadn't heard her or she wasn't shouting loud enough to be heard over the chaos. So she tried again. "Jet! What's going on?"

The man just continued to sprint past her table, not acknowledging her question. Soon, her eyes caught onto another one of her team-mates. This time, Droy ambled over, going the opposite direction that the Speed mage had been running. She tried calling out to him but he didn't hear her either. He even tripped and fell before standing up, continue to run, and yelling out again. The script mage face-palmed, wondering why they weren't paying any attention to her. They always turned even when she called them quietly.

A groan from beside her made her snap her head so quickly, she thought she had gotten whiplash. However, that sensation was short-lived because her eyes widened in horror.

"Gajeel!" She gasped, pointing at the tiny body beside her. The Iron Dragon Slayer turned to her and his eyes widened as well, "You're so small!"

"Like you're one to talk!" He ground out, giving the Script mage a glare, "You shrunk as well, Shrimp."

Levy looked down at herself and felt a desperate cry escape her mouth. Her notebook seemed to have multiplied in size, not only making her feel smaller than she was used to but also making the notebook look the size of the floor in her apartment. Not only that, the table was _gigantic_ and she was so small (...not. one. word). So it was safe to assume that she screamed. Loudly.

"Oi! Shrimp!" Gajeel yelled over her shrieks, "Shut up!"

"You shut up!" Levy shouted back in panic.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy's voice reached her ears as the blonde landed on the notebook in front of her, "What happened?"

"Lu-chan!" Levy exclaimed, "You're small too!"

"Yeah," The blonde muttered, holding her head to stop the throbbing, "I have a headache and I'm tiny. I almost got trampled over because I fainted on the floor, all I remember was a magic circle and a bright light. I don't know what's happening anymore."

"We can only assume it was the spell that did it," Levy muttered, looking down at the barely legible handwriting on her notebook, "And I was so close to figuring this out too."

"Do you think you can finish it?" Lucy asked, staring down at the words as well.

"I wish I could," The Script mage sighed, "But we're so small, I don't think I could even lift a pencil or turn a page of the book I was translating from." She then motioned towards the huge book that was flipped open before looking at the Gale-force reading glasses, "Or wear those."

"If it's a pencil you have to lift, then I'll be honored to help," A new voice spoke up right before Erza landed on the notebook beside Gajeel.

Both girl's eyes widened, "Tiny!"

"I'm not sure of what is going on," Erza continued, Re-equipping her demon armor to her normal attire, "But I would like to extend my hand to help."

"O-of course, E-Erza," Levy stuttered, a shaky smile on her face.

"So do you have any idea of what's going on?" Gajeel asked the bluenette, folding his arms across his chest.

"W-well," She frowned, then turned to Erza, "Usually spells like this only effect those who are in the vicinity to hear it but this one apparently wasn't that. Seeing that both Gajeel and I were across the guild when You and Lu were chasing Natsu but we all changed anyway. So we can only assume that those who have a knowledge of the spell would also be effected."

"Knowledge..."

Immediately a lightbulb went off and then Erza and Lucy turned to each other with wide eyes, "Gray!"

"Wait," Gajeel muttered, turning to Erza, "You and Bunny Girl were across the Guild when we were changed, how did you get here so quickly?"

"I flew," Erza replied calmly as if it was obvious. Gajeel gave her a skeptical look but he believed her. She was Titania after all. Shaking his head, he turned to Lucy.

"And you?"

"I flew," The blonde replied before shrugging, "Well I caught a ride on Happy but it's the same thing. I told him to go find Natsu because he must have something to do with why we're like this."

Levy raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know that?" That statement drew a look of disbelief from the blonde.

"C'mon. It's _Natsu_."

"Point taken."

"Now we have to focus on finding Gray," Lucy sighed, rubbing a tired hand down her face, "Did you guys let anyone else know about the spell?"

"No," Levy shook her head, "After you left, I immediately started to translate it. I'm not aware if anyone else saw it."

"Well," Gajeel muttered, the others turned to him curiously, "There was this creepy thing floatin' around us. It had blue wings and a weird face painted on it. It was probably the size of a mug, same shape too..."

"That was probably one of Bixlow's dolls," Erza informed, her armor clanking as she folded her arms, "I wouldn't worry too much about them though. They usually only repeat whatever Bixlow says and they float around the guild every so often. It was probably curious to what Levy was doing." She straightened her back and then looked at the group, "As of now, we must look for Gray, he is another person who knows about the spell. Gajeel and I will look for him by the entrance and I want you, Levy, and Lucy to take Happy and search from above."

"How are we even going to get Happy over here?" Lucy asked, her face twisting at the thought of trying to find the blue exceed, "We can't look for him or we'd be crushed-"

"Lushy!" Happy cried, zooming in and landing on the table. Tears leaked from his eyes as he ran towards the blonde, "I can't find Natsuuuuu- oops!"

"Oof!" Lucy grunted as she fell forward, Happy's paw resting heavily on her back. She suddenly had deja vu of when Natsu shrunk and kept on getting squished under's Happy's foot. "This is the Dan thing all over again," The blonde cried from under his paw, tears streaming down her face.

"S-sorry!" Happy apologized, quickly getting off of the Celestial mage. Erza walked over to Lucy and helped the blonde mage up, a small smile of sympathy on her face.

"You're just in time Happy!" Levy cried happily, running to him, "We need your help."

"My help?" The blue exceed asked incredulously before a smug smile spread across his lips, "I-I mean of course you need my help! What do I need to do?"

"We need you to help us find Gray," Lucy coughed, heavily leaning against Erza before regaining her own balance. She half-heartedly brushed off her clothes, "Do you think Levy and I can catch a ride and search from above?"

"We'll regroup on the bar," Erza announced once Happy agreed.

Levy nodded, struggling to climb onto Happy's head. Lucy easily clambered up his blue fur while Gajeel grunted, helping Levy onto her flying vessel. The red-headed woman re-equipped into one of her armor with wings before nodding at the group. They all gave her a thumbs up before she picked Gajeel up by his arms and flew off. Happy muttered a quick 'Aye, Sir' to Lucy as she urged the exceed to fly and sprouted his wings.

* * *

"Any luck?" Lucy asked the Script mage who was peering down at the guild. Levy shook her head sadly at her before turning back towards the ground. The blonde pursed her lips before gently patting Happy's head, "Do you see any of them, Happy?" The blue exceed merely shook his head slowly, so he wouldn't knock any of the girls off. "Do you think we should regroup? I don't know if tying to find them this way is very conventional."

"Yeah, I think we should," Levy sighed, "Happy, if you'd please?"

"Aye, sir!" Happy called out before swooping towards the bar.

Levy squealed at the familiar drop in her stomach as the blue exceed dived towards their rendezvous point. Lucy kept silent, already used to the sensation but kept her eyes trained on the floor just in case she spotted the familiar Ice mage. They needed to regroup and find out who else was affected by the spell. However, she was certain not that many people had known about the spell but they couldn't be too sure. Once Happy landed on the wooden countertop, the pair eagerly climbed off.

"Oh, wow!" Levy breathed in awe, "Lu-chan, look at Asuka's doll house!"

Lucy gave the bluenette a weird look before slowly turning her head, her breath catching in her throat. Proudly standing in front of them was Asuka's doll house but if the pair swore that they were standing in front of the old guild building. Despite knowing it was a replica and a doll house, they felt like they were thrown back in the past. Lucy was the first to move as she scrambled towards the building to place her hand on the wall, it felt as if her breath was squeezed out of her.

She walked over to the large doors and slid her hand down the wood, even feeling the bruises of where Natsu would kick it open. When Bisca first unveiled the doll house, she proudly held back her tears but seeing it in this perspective broke her walls completely. Tears sprung to her eyes, a couple even dropping onto her arm. She hadn't want to admit it to anyone else, but the time she cried after the Phantom incident wasn't just because she was overwhelmed by everyone's trust. She was actually sad to lose the building.

"I feel big again," Happy exclaimed, woefully recalling the time when he almost destroyed the ancient underground city. His mind took a 180 degree turn as he remembered stepping on Natsu for what felt like the hundredth time. The exceed snickered, "I wish Natsu was small again, that was fun."

Lucy wiped her tears and grinned up at Happy, "You just want to step on him again."

"Aye!" He agreed happily.

"Thank you for helping us, Happy," The blonde gratefully said, "Don't worry about us, we'll figure something out. For now, you can go."

"Are you sure, Lushy?" The blue exceed asked, eyeing them.

"Yeah, we don't want to take up your time," Levy replied with a polite smile, "Weren't you and Lily planning to see the other exceeds today?"

"Oh yeah!" Happy exclaimed, his eyes widening before flying off quickly. The women watched him go, snickering at his next statement. "Lily's going to kill me!"

"Oi!" Gajeel's voice rang around them as he fell where the exceed was just moments ago and landed safely on the countertop. He glared up at the ceiling and raised his fist angrily, "Don't just go an' drop me like that!"

"You landed safely, didn't you?" Erza asked, dropping next to him and re-equipping her armor again. She turned to the two girls and smiled, "I see that you haven't found him either."

"No, we didn't," Levy sighed with a frown.

"We'll find him," The red-headed mage smiled and placed an armored hand on the Script mage's shoulder.

"Eventually," Gajeel scoffed.

"But eventually is better than never," Lucy mused, still looking at the doll house.

"Ah, this brings back memories," Erza stated, walking to the blonde's side and placing her hands on her hips. Her eyes scrutinized the building, even the scorch marks on the wooden door. "I must praise Laki for a job well done."

"I remember this place," Gajeel muttered, his face was as stoic as ever but they could hear the guilt in his voice. They pretended not to hear it, not wanting to guilt the Dragon Slayer further. Gajeel walked forward and knocked on the door, testing the sturdiness, "You sayin' the creepy girl made this?"

"Gajeel," Levy scolded, "Laki is not creepy but yes, she did make this."

"Hmm," Gajeel looked up at the building again before shrugging, "Not bad."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, "Impressed?"

"It's not like I completely remember this place, Bunny Girl," The Iron Dragon Slayer muttered, "I ain't got a reference to be impressed."

They jumped back when the door creaked open, Lucy staring widely at the door while Gajeel acted as if he didn't jump at all. Erza stood in front of them with a sword in her hand while Levy hid behind Gajeel, clinging to Lucy's arm. The door opened further and they glared harsly. Gajeel hardened his arm into iron, Erza held her sword in defense and Lucy's hand dropped to her keys. They were all prepared to attack until a familiar raven-haired mage popped his head out. His eyes widened in panic before flying the doll house door open and holding his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, whoa!" Gray shouted, waving his hands in front of him, "Chill out! It's just me!"

"Gray!" The girls shouted in surprise while the Iron Dragon Slayer glared at him with accusing eyes.

"You scared the crap out of us!" Lucy cursed him, causing the Ice mage to flinch.

"You guys knocked on the door, then look as if you're going to attack and you're saying _I_ scared the crap out of _you_?!" Gray returned with narrowed eyes.

"I'm glad you are safe," Erza breathed a sigh in relief and reaching forward, slamming the raven-haired man against her chest-plate. Everyone flinched, knowing exactly how it felt to be in his shoes. The red-headed woman released him and set him with a hard look, "Where you in the doll house this whole time?"

"Ugh," Gray muttered rubbing his head before glancing back at the old Fairy Tail building, "This is a doll house?"

"Asuka's doll house," Levy corrected, "Laki made it for her."

"The creepy girl?" The Ice mage asked, surprise lighting his face. Gajeel sent Levy a smug look and she glared in reply while Erza and Lucy sweat-dropped.

"Gray-sama?" A small voice called from inside of the doll house before Juvia's small form walked out.

"Juvia too?!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock.

"Love Rival, Gajeel-kun, Erza-san and Levy-chan has also shrunk?" The Water mage asked with wonder in her eyes.

"It seems so," Erza muttered, tapping her chin with an armored clad finger. A frown formed on her face before she turned to Lucy and Levy, her eyes burning curiously, "But Juvia doesn't know about the spell..."

"But she was around us when we were talking about it," Lucy pointed out before turning to Levy, "That counts as knowledge doesn't it?"

"No, no," The Script mage denied, "To have knowledge of a spell like this, you either have to hear it from someone else's mouth or you'd have to at least see it. I don't think that having a general knowledge of the spell would cause someone to turn or be affected by it. If that was the case, then Cana would turn as well, but as you can see," Levy motioned to the normal sized brunette who was drinking on the table, "She would be small as well."

"Wait," Erza mused, folding her arms, "Cana was the one to ask us to decipher the spell. So why isn't she small as well? Wouldn't she have to read it to understand the severity of the job?"

"I don't think so," Levy shook her head, "The job was titled '_Decipher this spell_' and the reward was posted below that before even getting to the spell. We can assume that she didn't read the spell, just knew that it was probably too much work to decipher it and gave it to you."

Gajeel snickered, "That was harsh coming from you, Shrimp."

"Seriously?" Levy asked in exasperation, her eyes incredulous, "We all know how lazy she can be! She even casts fortunes on jobs before she takes them just to make sure she doesn't have to do too much work before getting the reward! Why do you think she sets up so much bets? Because she likes the thrill of gambling? I don't think so, she's a freaking fortune teller for Mavis's sake! She already knows who's going to win or lose."

"It's her only source of income," Erza muttered under her breath.

"It's true," Gray shrugged, folding his arms over his bare chest.

"Mira-nee! Look!" Asuka's childish voice popped into their conversation, stopping anyone else from speaking.

The six mages turned to see the child scrambling onto the chair, her large eyes popping over the counter a second later. Levy, Juvia and Lucy stepped back in surprise, they eyes widening at Asuka's sudden appearance. Gray looked awed at the child's sudden giant size while Gajeel and Erza kept their faces blank. Mira walked up to the bar and her eyes widening in horror, her hands clasped in front of her carefully.

"Not you guys too!" The white-haired barmaid exclaimed.

"...'_too_'?" Lucy asked in confusion.

A second later, the small group heard muffled protests coming from somewhere. They all looked around in confusion but Lucy's eyes were still stuck on the white-haired barmaid, waiting for an explanation. Mira nodded solemnly before placing her clasped hands onto the bar and slowly opening it. Tumbling out of her hands was a familiar face that shocked everyone. The woman fell flat on her face, complaining when she sat up and rubbing her nose.

"Ouch, Mira-nee," The white-haired woman complained, turning to look up at her older sister. Mira just gave her an apologetic smile.

"Lisanna?!" Erza, Gray and Levy exclaimed, making the short haired girl turn to them in surprise.

"Levy, Erza, Lucy, Grey!" Lisanna exclaimed back, her eyes darting between them, "Even Gajeel and Juvia too?! What's happening around here?"

"Okay, this surprise thing is gettin' annoying," Gajeel growled, clenching his fist angrily. "Some stupid person must have read the spell out loud and changed us all like this. We have to find the idiot and beat the shit out of him."

"Gajeel!" The women scolded the man for swearing, especially in front of Asuka. The Iron Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest.

Gray snorted, "I'd bet it was Flame Brain."

"Gray-sama... your clothes again."

"Ah, crap! Thanks Juvia!"

Silence stretched between the rest of the group, as they looked at each other with knowing eyes (while Grey scrambled to put on his clothes). It wasn't that they completely were set on agreeing with him but no one disagreed either. They had no doubt in their mind that Natsu had something to do with them being small. However, a few people, namely Lucy, decided to defend her friend. And in her case, her partner.

"I mean, he's dumb but hopefully not that dumb," The blonde muttered, half-believing her own words.

"You sent Happy to look for him earlier because you thought he had something to do with it," Levy told her flatly.

"Yeah, I thought he had '_something_' to do with it. I didn't say that it was completely his fault," Lucy blushed guiltily, looking away and mumbling, "Besides, he's my partner. Stupidity is contagious and I'd rather not catch it."

"What faith," Gajeel snorted sarcastically. Lucy didn't bother to argue, it was true anyway.

"I can't think of anyone else to blame," Gray frowned, looking around the group, "He's the one who was dead set on trying to see the flyer anyway."

"But he didn't come anywhere near us," Levy pointed out, "But according to Gajeel, Bixlow's doll floated around us."

"Which one?" Mira asked, placing a worried hand on her face. Everyone turned towards Levy (Except Erza and Lucy who turned to Gajeel) but then Levy fidgeted and shot a look at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Uh," Gajeel muttered, scratching his cheek, "It had blue wings and it's face was painted on. Had a big green nose and a red mask... thing. I suppose."

"Blue wings?" Mira asked, a confused frown on her face, "All of Bixlow's dolls have brown wings."

"Ah, actually," Lisanna piped up, "He said he wanted to paint the dolls wings a different color so he painted one blue and the others were green, red, yellow and white." Everyone turned to her with blank eyes, causing the short haired girl to blush, "I asked earlier when he came in. It was something I noticed."

The women shared a knowing smirk before Juvia finally spoke, "But Juvia wonders why this certain doll would matter?"

"The doll with the blue wings is a little different than the rest," Lisanna spoke without thinking, the women smiled knowingly at each other, "He's a lot smarter than the rest of Bixlow's babies. He can converse to a certain extent."

"Oh really?" Lucy giggled behind her hand, "That's interesting, _I_ didn't know that. Did any of you know, ladies?"

"I don't think I knew that, Lu-chan," Levy snickered. Finally catching on, Lisanna glared at the pair but a blush coated her cheeks.

"Juvia had no clue."

"I was unaware."

"Lisanna! Why haven't you told me? We're sisters aren't we?"

"Okay, I think we teased her enough," Lucy held her hands out in a 'peace' gesture, then a sly smirk appeared on her face, "Besides, she already vowed herself to Natsu."

Gajeel and Gray rolled their eyes while the women laughed teasingly at the youngest Strauss's expense. Lisanna blushed further and gave the Celestial mage a half-hearted glare before muttering that they were 'just kids'. Levy playfully nudged the short haired girl on the arm, a knowing smile on her face. Lisanna rolled her eyes at them before pouting and folding her arms across her chest. Asuka, however, was a little lost in the conversation but she still darted her eyes between the tiny group and Mira.

"But," The child spoke up a little sadly, "I thought Lucy-nee and Natsu-nii liked each other."

That immediately quieted the small group. Lucy turned to the child with wide, disbelieving eyes while the others just stared at each other in shock. The one to break the silence was Gajeel when he snorted a laugh. Gray quickly followed and the rest erupted in bouts of laughter. The only quiet ones were the still shocked Lucy and Asuka who looked even more confused than she did earlier.

"W-where'd you g-get that idea from?" Lucy asked in a stutter, a blush dusting her entire face.

"Mira-nee said you and Natsu-nii are like Mama and Papa," Asuka frowned, looking up to the white-haired barmaid whose laughter ceased. Mira looked away when Lucy sent her a glare.

"Like I said last time," Lucy consoled gently, "Natsu and I aren't like your Mama and Papa."

"But you two do stuff like Mama and Papa," The child pouted at the small woman. The others smirked, completely taking that statement the wrong way even when the blonde mage gave them a warning glare.

"Oh yeah?" Lisanna asked, not willing to let the opportunity of payback to pass, "And what do Mama Bisca and Papa Azlack do like Lucy-nee and Natsu-nii?"

"They go on missions alone," Asuka replied obediently. Everyone's smirk seemed to grow while Lucy face-palmed. "They hug and they smile at each other across the room. Lucy-nee even laughs at Natsu-nii's jokes. Even if they aren't funny."

"I just don't want him to feel bad when no one laughs," Lucy muttered. The women gave her a knowing look and she gave them a hard glare in return, "If I didn't, he'd complain to me about it anyway. Might as well hit two birds with one stone and pretend it was funny. At least when he boasts he doesn't care if anyone is listening. When he complains he'd keep calling your name until he _knows_ that you're listening and I have been in way too much of those situations to ever want to be in them again."

Erza snickered, "It is easier to ignore his boasting than his complaints."

"They don't kiss like Mama and Papa," Asuka continued, not noticing the small conversation between her thinking, "But Cana-nee says Natsu-nii sleeps in Lucy-nee's bed at night."

The Celestial mage clenched her fist, "I'm going to _kill_ her when we're back to normal."

Mira wisely held her hands over Asuka's ears before giving her a small doll to play with. Asuka accepted the doll with a wide smile and started to make it dance on the countertop. Mira had a feeling that this will be quite a long conversation so she wanted the child to have something to do so she wouldn't be bored. Even if it was playing with her doll.

"Now that's a little extreme," Gray chuckled, patting the woman's head. The blonde felt Juvia's glare send shivers down her spine before she shook the Ice mage's hand off of her head.

"I help her with Gildarts during the S-class trials and this is the thanks I get?" Lucy ranted, "It's not like I'm willingly letting him in my bed- in my _apartment_ actually."

"Bunny Girl and Salamander, huh?" Gajeel smirked, "Who woulda thunk?"

"NO!"

Taking pity on the Celestial mage, Mira sat down and looked at the group, "So how would Bixlow's dolls tie into this?"

"Well," Levy muttered when everyone stopped snickering at her best friend's expense, "I've been thinking-"

"No surprise there," Gajeel scoffed.

"-That he may have been the one to say the spell," The Script mage continued, completely ignoring the Dragon Slayer's comment, "Since we assume that those with strict knowledge of the spell is affected, then he must be turned as well. If what Lisanna said about that certain doll being smarter than the rest, it could possibly be that the particular doll was sent because it could comprehend what was on the paper and relayed it to him."

"Oh," Lucy frowned, thoughtfully placing her hand on her chin, "I guess that wouldn't do much harm."

The group turned to her with confusion but Erza spoke up for them, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just a theory," The blonde trailed, "But I'm guessing that since the dolls are actually souls in an inanimate object, them reciting the spells wouldn't do anything or even trigger the spell at all. And I'm also guessing that Bixlow had repeated the doll's words in curiosity but what stumps me is the fact that he knew about the spell at all."

"Juvia guesses that Bixlow-san was convinced by Natsu-san to find out about it," The Water mage offered, the others looked at each other with a sigh.

"You gonna argue against that, Bunny Girl?"

"No, I'm not. It sounds like something he would do."

"So that must mean that Bixlow has also shrunk," Gray pitched in, somehow managing to keep all of his clothes on this time around, "But what I'm confused about is that Lisanna is small. I'm sure she hadn't seen or even heard the spell for that matter."

"Yeah, I was in the kitchen since this morning," Lisanna frowned, "I didn't know what happened. All I remember was that there was a really bright light and I blacked out. When I came to, Asuka and Mira-nee had me in their hands and then we came out here to find you guys small as well."

"That's quite a problem," Erza muttered, folding her armored arms. The others nodded with a heavy sigh.

The short haired woman turned to Levy and Lucy. "Do any of you know how to reverse the spell?"

"Well I have to get a general knowledge of it first then I have to break it down into parts and then see how to reverse the type of magic," Levy replied first, "I was halfway through translating it completely but that's all that I got. I have no way to research it either. My Gale-force reading glasses are way too big for me and the book pages are too hard to turn."

"I could turn them for you," Mira offered politely.

"Thanks for the suggestion Mira," Levy sighed, "But I usually go through at least ten books even with a simple spell like this. It would take too long and I don't know if this spell has a time limit whether it wears off or keeps us like this. Permanently."

"Here's to hoping it wears off," Gajeel muttered sarcastically.

"I can try to translate it," Mira offered this time, "I can read some runes and the Raijinshuu is here today. I could ask Laxus if I can borrow Freed to help out. I'm sure he'd agree once he knows what happened to you all."

"Can you?" Lucy asked hopefully, "That would be a real relief if you could."

"I'll see what I can do," The white-haired barmaid smiled, "I don't know how long it'll take so sit tight please. Asuka, please listen to them."

"Make sure the Raijinshuu are the only people you show it to," Erza called to Mira's retreating back, "And don't say the spell out loud. It might make you small as well!" The barmaid just waved her hand dismissively over her shoulder. The red-headed mage sighed before turning to the group of magically shortened people and Asuka as well. "Well, what are we going to do for the time being?" She asked, "We can't wander the guild just in case we need to be together to break the spell."

"And we might get trampled on."

"Or lost."

"Or... worse."

"I KNOW! I KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO!" Asuka shouted excitedly, causing the group to hold their ears. One by one, they turned to the small child who was currently bouncing in her seat, unable to hold her excitement. Her hat slightly tipped off of her head but Asuka easily fixed it while clutching her doll to her chest.

Lucy gave the child a skeptical eye but offered a warm smile anyway, "And what is that?"

"You can all play in my doll house!"


	3. Chapter 3

****A/N: Haha for negligence. C'mon laugh with me. _Hahahaha._.. haha... How long was it since the last chapter? A few mont- weeks right? ...right? *Ahem* So thank you all for being so patient with my lack of updates. I do plan to finish this story (there's maybe one or two chapters left after this one I think). ********When inspiration for a different story hits and that plot takes up every nook and cranny of the creative part of my brain, I tend to get 'Writer's Block' until I have rid myself of that evil. ****

****The very last thing that I would want to do is come out with an incredibly poorly crafted chapter and post it for all those patient readers. And while I admit that this isn't my best, I'd still feel like the biggest piece of poopie out there. So yes, I have taken my time on this and I apologize once again.****

****But anyway, enjoy and as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire****

****Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro**** **Mashima**

* * *

_Asuka's Dolls_

"It's just like how I remembered it."

They weren't sure who had said it. However, since there was only two people in the group who hadn't really seen the old guild, they narrowed it down to either Lucy, Erza, Gray or Lisanna. Juvia and Gajeel walked around (or followed _certain_ people) while secretly admiring the doll house. The tables and chairs were perfectly crafted and even the floor planks were scaled to size. If they weren't conscious of the spell that was forced upon them, they wouldn't have thought that they were miniature versions of themselves and was sent back in time instead.

They were given time to familiarize themselves with the house before becoming one of Askua's dolls. She, apparently, only brought one doll to play with all of them. So they agreed. Kinda. Actually, they were more likely to admit that they were pressured into it by the 'puppy eyes'. Gajeel and Gray were the first to crack, surprisingly. The others quickly fell in and Lucy were the last ones to hold out, the blonde dropping before the bluenette. Levy was smug, knowing that she had full bragging rights when they returned to normal.

Everyone in Fairy Tail came to terms that it's hard to refuse the fairy bred child when she turned her big doe-like eyes onto them. Of course, you're free to try but it won't work (taking Gajeel for example). So instead of trying to fight it, they actually made a contest out of it. Those who could hold out the longest against Asuka's pleading eyes had complete bragging rights and everyone just had to deal with it. Although it doesn't seem like much, when you're a Fairy Tail member and can't fight back against the 'winner's merciless boasting... let's just say that their faces are completely worth it.

"Oh, hey!" Lisanna exclaimed excitedly, walking towards the wall left of the door and ran her fingers down a shallow dent. Erza and Juvia (surprisingly) followed the short-haired girl and peered over her shoulder curiously. "This is the result of Elf nii-chan's first time using his Beast Arm. I can remember that day like it was yesterday."

"Juvia is surprised that the damage is small," The namesake mused, eyeing the dent skeptically.

"I think I was out on a mission that day," Erza frowned, stroking her chin in contemplation, "But I do believe that Elfman cried after his fist made contact with the wall."

"Ugh," Levy frowned as she sat down on a particularly wobbly chair by the bar. Gajeel lingered around the tiny Script mage, secretly keeping an eye on the woman while observing the plastic bottles behind the bar. Levy got off, easily lifting the wooden chair and placing it on the table. Her fingers brushed against the leg that was at least half an inch shorter than the rest, "Of course Laki would remember to put this chair in here."

Gajeel peeked at the Script mage from the corner of his eye, "You attached to it or somethin'?"

"Not particularly," Levy shrugged, placing the chair right-side up on the floor, "I was trying my hand at some Wind Scripts and you can say that the chair was a direct result of that."

"So you sliced the chair," Gajeel snorted.

"Only the leg."

"Gihi," The Iron Dragon Slayer chuckled, "Remind me not to let you use wind magic around me, Shrimp."

The bluenette gave him a dry look, "Dully noted."

"Haha!" Gray laughed, tapping the toe of his shoe against a small indention in the wooden flooring, "Man, this brings back a lot of good memories."

Lucy twisted in the stool that she was sitting on and gave the Ice mage a questioning look, "I'm not sure whether or not I should ask why you're so attached to that particular spot."

He smirked, "This is where I first beat Flame-face to the ground and _won_. Good thing Erza was gone on a mission that day."

"I should have known it was something like that," The blonde rolled her eyes, "Let me guess, that's when Natsu first joined?"

"Yep," He cackled.

"He told me about that," She smirked, arrogantly placing her right arm on the bar and leaning against it. "And he also told me that if you ever brought that up, I'd have to remind you that you never won once afterwards."

"What?" Gray demanded, his smirk dropping instantly, "He's lying, you know that right?"

"I'm only the messenger here, Gray," Lucy shrugged nonchalantly, "Oh, I forgot to mention this before, but you lost your clothes again."

"Ah, crap!"

"Everyone has a lot of memories here," Juvia's voice floated around the guild, quieting everyone's conversation to look at the Water mage, "Juvia wonders what it would have been like to join before she and Gajeel-kun destroyed it."

The Water mage stood in the middle of the canteen with her eyes closed, unaware of the gazes that were drawn to her as her face tilted up to the ceiling. Gajeel folded his arms over his chest and turned his head away guiltily, Levy being the only one who noticed the small action. The others' eyes saddened as they finally processed what the blue-haired woman confessed. Erza, being the first to react, walked in front of the woman and closed her eyes as well. Lucy smiled softly, sliding off of her seat and walking towards the red-head's side, already seeing Lisanna do the same.

Levy reached out and gripped Gajeel's arm to drag him to the group. He reluctantly followed without protest and situated himself beside Juvia while Levy squeezed between him and Lisanna. Gray felt his feet move on it's own, making him stand between Lucy and Juvia.

"Buildings may change, but Fairy Tail is still the same," Erza smiled, feeling the Water mage look at her as she continued, "Whether you joined before the building was destroyed or not makes no difference."

"Sure we have a lot of memories in this old building," Lucy spoke next, folding her arms across her chest, "But isn't that the beauty of starting anew?"

"To make new memories?" Gray cracked a smile.

"One day, our building might be destroyed again," Lisanna gigged, peeking out of the window from where she stood, "But then we would just build it again."

"It's all about moving forward and keep on looking ahead," Levy laced her fingers in front of her. The bluenette shot a secretive smile over at the Iron Dragon slayer as she continued, "To forgive the past and know when to hold on or let go."

"This building is the physical form of our memories," Erza's armor clanged as she unfolded her arms and placing a hand on her chest, "But we will always keep them close to our hearts. It doesn't matter if neither of you experienced them personally, you are our nakama now. We will share them with you as long as you're willing to listen."

The Water mage matched everyone's eyes and blushed. When she turned to Gray's, she shyly looked down to her feet, "Juvia is willing to listen."

"Then close your eyes," Lucy said suddenly, quickly following her own instructions. The others followed closely afterwards. "You don't have to see the memories to hear them."

Lisanna closed her eyes and smiled widely, "Can't you hear them? The sound of our family laughing and cheering."

"J-Juvia can hear them," The Water mage stumbled out as she closed her eyes. The outside's laughter floated into the silent doll house, making everyone smile again.

"That," Gray mumbled, "Is Fairy Tail."

* * *

"Thank you for letting us look around," Levy happily exclaimed once she walked out of the doll house, smiling widely at the Youngest Connell, "It's really pretty in there."

"Laki-nee promised," Asuka replied with a happy grin.

Lisanna and Erza filed out after the Script mage. Lucy yawned tiredly, stretching her arms above her head. Gajeel blocked the sunlight as it hit the exact space he emerged from while Juvia followed Gray out, keeping close like always. The Ice mage placed a hand on his shoulder and rolled the heel of his palm over them, haphazardly swinging his arm as if to get a kink out.

"Ugh," Gray grumped, "Is it just me or do you guys feel a little stiff?"

"U-uh. J-Juvia f-feels a little s-stiff as well," The Water mage whispered in a blush, giving the Ice mage a look of longing, "M-maybe G-Gray-sama c-could-"

"Now that you pointed it out," Gajeel unknowingly cut the water mage off, holding a hand to his neck and stretched, "I am feeling kinda off."

"It's probably because we were like this for too long," Erza suggested, shrugging as if unfazed, "Maybe it's a side-effect of the spell."

"First Master?!" Lucy's distant voice cut through the conversation.

The others quickly stopped and turned to the blonde before following her gaze. Standing on the bar was indeed Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion. The woman's child-like face looked down on them, a sparkle in her green eyes. Her pale blonde hair waved down her back, nearly sweeping the counter with it's length. Her mouthed formed an 'o' as she cautiously padded towards them.

"Ooh!" Mavis exclaimed in interest, clapping her hands excitedly as her gaze drifted over the group, "That looks like fun! Let me try!" A large cloud of pink smoke exploded around the group, causing them all to cough and their eyes to water. When the smoke cleared, Mavis Vermillion had successfully scaled herself down to their sizes. The ghost happily danced around, a wide smile on her face. "Ooh! I'm small! I'm small!"

"F-First M-master," Erza held a hand to her forehead, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to play!" Mavis cried jovially, throwing her hands into the air as a cheerful squeal escaped her lips.

The red-headed mage's eyes widened, "To play? First Master we're-"

"Yay!" Asuka cheered, "Granny is going to play with us!"

"G-Granny?" Erza blanched, her face turning completely pale.

The red-head's eyes widened, her mouth dropping open in horror. If anything, Erza looked like she was just about to pass out. Lucy looked at her friend in concern, ignoring the group that flocked towards Fairy Tail's first master. The blonde placed a comforting hand on Erza's shoulder, the woman continuing to sputter out incoherent words. Lucy immediately sweat-dropped when the red-headed mage turned her horrified gaze onto her.

"L-Lucy-"

"It's fine, Erza," The blonde gave her what hopefully looked like a comforting smile, "Master Mavis doesn't seem to mind."

Ignoring the red-head's indignant stutters, she steered them both towards the group who were currently circling around the Master. However, the blonde paused when something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Her hands slipped off of Erza's shoulders as the red-head continued to walk, not noticing that the blonde had stopped. Whatever it was moved towards the group quickly, the indistinguishable blur was brown, blue and red.

Lucy lift her hands to block the sunlight from her eyes, squinting to get a better look. The closer the blur came, the better she got a look at it but it was still just a blob in her eyes.

"That's two of Bixlow's babies," Lisanna explained, causing the blonde-haired woman to whip her head to look at her.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she turned her gaze back to the blur, "You can see that?"

"Ah, well," Lisanna blushed, not that the blonde noticed, "Yeah."

"Impressive," Lucy smirked, placing her hands on her hips, waiting for the Bixlow's 'Babies' to come closer.

The short-hair mage quickly controlled her blush and stood in a similar stance as the blonde, waiting for the dolls to come closer. When they slowed enough to see, Lucy smiled when they actually turned out to be what Lisanna said they were. She figured she should have known that as well. After all, she had been attacked enough times by the creepy flying mugs to have it permanently etched into her brain. Besides, what was strange wasn't for the fact that there was only two. Instead, what shocked them the most was the man sitting on one of the doll's head.

He was extremely smaller than usual.

"Bixlow?" Lisanna asked, her eyes widening in surprise. When the other doll came into view, both girls saw a familiar Dragon Slayer looking extremely uncomfortable. And by 'uncomfortable', they meant sick. "Natsu too?"

"Lis and Cosplayer," Bixlow cackled, "I never knew you had some kind of doll fetish."

"Like you can talk," Lucy snapped, her eyes glaring at the man. However, Bixlow just shrugged off her insult.

"How did you guys find us?" Lisanna asked, cutting off anything that the man would have said.

"I saw some smoke pop up," He replied, crossing his legs, "Didn't know if anyone else were small so I decided to check it out. Salamander decided to hitch a ride."

The blonde eyed them suspiciously, "So I can safely assume that you and this flame-brained idiot have something to do with why we're all small?"

"I dunno, can you?"

This time, Lisanna shot a glare at him, "Bixlow. I swear, if you're the one that turned us all small, I'll hurt you."

"You can't hurt me, Lis," The man smirked, folding his arms across his chest. "And if anything, blame him," Bixlow motioned at the Fire Dragon Slayer who currently looked like he was going to barf, "He told me to sneak a peak at the paper Levy was reading. All I did was repeat what my baby said, no harm done."

"No harm- Ugh. Why am I not surprised," Lucy muttered, pressing the heel of her palm against her forehead. The dolls floated around restlessly, causing the girls to sweat-drop at Natsu's pitiful groan. Taking pity on her partner, she sighed, "Let me get him down. He looks like he's about to empty his stomach on your doll's head."

Immediately, the doll with the Dragon Slayer set itself down on the bar in front of the blonde. She walked around the wooden doll and gave her partner a exasperated sigh when his cheeks puffed up. Lucy paused, eyeing her partner warily before taking his arm and wrapping it around her shoulders. She then wrapped one of her arms around his waist and pulled him off of the doll with a grunt of effort. She prayed to the spirits that he wouldn't blow chunks right now.

"Th-thanks, Luce," Natsu muttered weakly, struggling to take some of his weight off of his partner.

"Yeah, yeah," Lucy scrunched her nose, leading them towards the group who were avidly listening to Asuka and Mavis, "Just don't think that me helping you out makes me any less mad at you."

"Where's the others?" Lisanna asked the masked man, looking around for the other dolls.

Bixlow was currently riding on the one that Gajeel had described earlier; the doll with the red mask, blue wings and green nose. The one that Natsu had been riding on was the doll with two black blobs for eyes, white wings and a pleasant smile on it's face. Unless Bixlow gave the dolls free roam, the others usually were quick to follow their master wherever he went. So of course she found it quite strange when only two gravitated in the air.

"I only have enough magic to support these two," Bixlow replied with a shrug.

Lisanna gave him a questioning frown, "Is that right..."

* * *

"Oh!" Mavis exclaimed, looking at the small group once Lisanna and Bixlow joined their conversation, "Why are you all so small?"

"We were turned this way by a spell," Levy explained when everyone else face-palmed, "I was originally trying to decipher it before it activated. Now Mira and Freed are trying to find the counter-spell to turn us back to normal."

"Hmm," The blonde spirit hummed, placing a hand on her chin, "Did this spell, by any chance, have the runes 'Soul' and 'Pair' in the first line?"

"Uh, yeah," the bluenette answered the First Master's question, curiously eyeing the small spirit, "Why?"

"Hmm," Mavis hummed once more. "I see," She continued, her eyes taking on a more serious gaze, "I'm safely assuming that this spell is most effective on those who have any sort of knowledge of it. If that is the case, then you'd better hur-"

"Are we going to play now?" Asuka's voice cut through the pair's conversation.

The dark-haired child patiently sat on her chair, but a small frown started to form on her lips and her legs swung restlessly. At the word 'play', Mavis's eyes brightened as she turned towards the youngest Connell with a gleeful cheer. Levy desperately tried to get the spiritual figure to finish her sentence but was easily cut off when the blonde spirit ambled over to the child. Erza placed a sympathetic hand on the Script mage's shoulder, slightly shaking her head at any further attempts. The tiny bluenette sighed sadly before making her way to the group who surrounded Asuka and Mavis once again.

Levy snuck a glance at Gajeel who was currently smirking at a still sick Dragon slayer who was _still_ leaning against the blonde Celestial mage. Lucy, however, was giving Lisanna a pleading smile, trying to convince the short-haired Take-over mage for a turn. Lisanna giggled under her hand and slightly shook her head.

"Sorry, Lucy-san," She apologized even though her smile was anything but apologetic, "I would probably make it worse."

"According to Happy, and Natsu apparently, I'm a mode of transportation," Lucy sighed with a roll of her eyes, "So I don't think anyone else can possibly be worse than me."

"Ugh," Natsu groaned, "I think I'm gonna-"

"Don't. You. Dare." The blonde warned but the threat was lost when she let out a soft whimper, "Erza!"

"My apologies, Lucy."

"Fine. What a helpful lot you are."

"S-sorry, Luce," The salmon-haired boy managed softly.

The blonde Celestial mage gave him a small, reassuring smile as shook her head and helped him out of the circle. Lisanna and Gray cackled in mirth as they left, purposely ignoring the glares they received. Off in the distance, the guild somehow broke out into another brawl and was currently wrecking the guild _again_. Erza's fist clenched but no matter how strong she was, she knew that she would get crushed under the giants' feet. If she was normal, she would have definitely subdued the rowdy bunch by now.

The rest of the group seemed to notice this and slowly backed away from the crimson haired woman. Bixlow easily hopped on one of his dolls and flew out of reach, knowing exactly the limits to the red-headed mage's strength. Neither Mavis or Asuka seemed to noticed this but continued to chat animatedly.

"How exactly do we act like dolls?" Gajeel scoffed, catching the tail end of the child's conversation.

"All everyone has to do is stay still," The Water mage explained, "Juvia doesn't think that being a doll is any harder than that."

"I have a feeling that I'm going to get a lot of bruises," Lisanna sighed, running a hand down her arm.

"A few bumps and bruises is nothing to worry about," Gray shrugged, "We get hurt more on jobs. I'm sure that Asuka won't treat us badly- Ugh, Juvia!"

The bluenette shook her head as she hung off of the Ice mage's arm, "Juvia cannot, she is impressed with Gray-sama's consideration."

"What are you talking about?" He asked grumpily, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"Gray-sama trusts Asuka-chan to treat Juvia kindly!" She squealed happily, squeezing the Ice mage's arm a little tighter, "Juvia is happy that Gray-sama is nice to kids. That means Gray-sama doesn't mind having thirty babies with Juvia!"

Freaked out, Gray tried to pull away from the water mage but she clung tightly, "I'm not going to have thirty kids with you, Juvia!"

"That's okay, twenty kids is fine with Juvia too!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Mavis happily floated over towards the small group and clapped her hands, "Okay! Is everyone ready to start?" Asuka leaned closer to them, her eyes growing wider as she stared at each of them with different levels of pleading. The men were the first to break (They're always the first to break) and agreed. However, the women were slightly more cautious and it took them a while to agree.

"Yeah," Levy spoke up, glancing at Juvia, "But Juvia has to let go of Gray first."

"It's okay!" Asuka smiled, "We can play anyway, I like them like that!"

Lisanna let out a quiet, fangirl squeal, one similar to how Mira would have sounded. Gray grumbled under his breath but felt his cheeks go hot while Juvia continued to snuggle up against her Gray-sama's side. His face looked like it was irritated but deep, deep, _deeep_ down inside, he felt a little bit of warmth with it. And that he couldn't deny.

"As 'cute' as we seem, I don't know if I can work like this," Gray sighed. He reluctantly patted the Water mage on the head, trying to ease her off of him, "So for now, just let go."

Bixlow smirked, "For now?"

"Juvia would never disobey her Gray-sama! Juvia will let go for now," The bluenette smiled warmly but she never moved from her spot. The others waited a few seconds before sweat-dropping when the woman continued to hold onto the Ice mage's arm.

"Uh, J-Juvia?" Gray approached the topic hesitantly, "Do you mind letting go?"

"Juvia would if she could."

"Damn it, Rain Woman!" Gajeel groaned, ignoring the sharp jab from his very own bluenette, "Now's not the time."

"J-Juvia swears she would if she could," The Water mage cried, her face slowly morphed into a frown, "But Juvia cannot move. It seems that some force keeps Juvia against her Gray-sama and won't let her let go!"

Lisanna giggled and nudged Levy's arm, making her giggle as well, "That's called love."

"Juvia is serious!" The namesake yelled, causing everyone to look at her in shock. The bluenette sent a pleading look towards the group, "Everyone knows Juvia loves Gray-sama with all her heart but..."

Juvia trailed off, wondering if everyone will believe her. Of course, she acted like this before but that time she honestly wanted to stay against Gray's side. This time though... With a long look at the group, they finally looked towards the woman in concern. Her eyes were wide with a mix of both happiness and fear.

"Juvia thinks she is stuck."


	4. Chapter 4

****A/N: Nalu. My OTP. My inspiration. 'Nuff said. ****

****Sorry for the super late chapter *bows* I was finding it a bit difficult to write this out just because I didn't think the whole spell through. Just those first two lines xD But, I did my best! I really hope I did this justice because the last thing I want to do is give you guys a horrible chapter.****

****But anyway, enjoy and as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire****

****Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro**** **Mashima**

* * *

_Asuka's Dolls_

"Okay, so let's go over this again."

Freed propped one hand on his hip while he leaned over the job flyer, his other hand feathered over the complicated language. Laxus grunted in irritation, kicking his feet up on the table in front of them. Mira sent him a harsh glare before knocking his feet back to the ground and waving a stern finger at him.

"Tables are not for feet," The white-haired barmaid chastised, "Especially since you don't clean them."

The scarred blonde sent her a glare of his own, "Clean what? The tables or my feet?"

"Well..." Mira trailed off when the Lightning Dragon Slayer growled at her. A familiar smirk lifted at her lips before it quickly morphed back into an innocent smile, "You said it, not me. However, I did mean the tables."

"I'll tell you that Laxus-sama vigorously washes his feet every night," Freed defended, not once taking his eyes off of the flyer.

"I see," The barmaid giggled at the newfound information and felt the scarred blonde send another glare her way but she ignored him and settled her attention on the green-hiared Dark Ecriture mage. She peered curiously over his shoulder, "So have you figured it out?"

Freed blew some air out of the corner of his lips, rustling his green bangs, "I have translated what I could. There are a total of five lines in the spell. However, the structure doesn't make sense. The only parts of the scripture that even has a lick of it would be the words in the first line are 'Soul' and 'Pair'. The second line literally translates to 'Youth of a child's height'. Which - in a sense - shouldn't be possible."

"I don't know why we're fussing over trying to revive the group of squirts," Evergreen drawled in boredom, lifting her hand to examine her nails, "That Salamander and the Ice-man can no longer wreck the guild. The Overly Obsessed woman will no longer flood the room with her magic. The Blonde one... well, she's no threat to me. Levy and the Iron Eater, they don't bother me either. But now that _Titania_ is out of the way, I can finally take my rightful place as Queen of the Fairies."

"I thought you got over that," Freed grunted, peeking at the brunette over his shoulder.

"Of course not," The woman replied haughtily, leveling the Ecriture mage with a blank stare, "A true queen will always bear the urge to rule."

"You were saying," Laxus rolled his eyes, pointedly staring at Freed and ignoring the brunette's confession but he did offer her a bored look, "Let's not forget that Bickslow is also apart of that '_group of squirts_'."

"And Lisanna," Mira pointed out, placing her hands on her hips, "Once Elfman catches wind of this, he's going to be in tears. Especially if he learns that Lisanna got injured during the change."

Evergreen froze, her eyes hardening at the mention of the male Strauss, "That brute will blubber whether or not we do something anyway. He'd cry a lot less if we change them back."

"So shall I continue?" Freed asked the group. They all stared at him for a second before nodding in agreement. "As I was saying earlier, the second line shouldn't be possible since a child's height holds no youth. In fact, height bears no age so unless they were speaking on a logical term, this shouldn't be possible. But since we can pair the sentence with the effects of the spell, then we can conclude that a youthful 'height' literally means 'small'. So the second line actually only translate into 'Youth' and 'Small'." The green-haired mage trailed his finger down the flyer again. "There was one thing strange about this spell though..."

"Well?" Laxus snapped after a minute of silence from the Ecriture mage, "What's so strange about it?"

Freed pursed his lips before lifting his eyes to meet every single one of their gazes, "After translating the third line, I managed to find a pattern that they all share. And the pattern that they share is that the lines aren't meant to make sense."

"Shouldn't it, though?" Mira asked curiously, "Spells create sentences for deliberate action and they should make sense."

"That's the thing," The green-haired mage stressed, "These sentences don't make sense. The first line as well as the second, third, forth, and the two after do not make _sentences_, they create words. _Two_ words." At the blank stares he received, Freed sighed and leaned back over the flyer, "For example, if you take the second line's translation, it would be 'Youthful of a child's height' but we conceive that it only means 'Youth' and 'Small' instead of a whole sentence."

"So you're saying that they aren't actually sentences but translate into two words only," Evergreen pointed out flatly. At Freed's nod, she sighed, "Then why couldn't they just use the words instead of creating something that doesn't make sense."

"It's probably because spells need complete sentences, like Mira had pointed out," The Ecriture mage replied, "But they don't necessarily have to mean what they say. If you say '_Forbidden red fruit_' we can assume that you're just trying to say '_apple_' but the sentence sounds a lot more complete rather than naming the fruit."

"So some kind of code," Laxus frowned.

"Exactly."

"The first line is 'Soul' and 'Pair'," Mira commented thoughtfully, "We can assume that since the spell tethers with the soul, that the actual soul of that person will shrink, along with their body and their magic."

"Then 'Pair' should literally mean what it should," Evergreen frowned, peeking a glance where the 'group of squirts' were currently at, "So if we count them now, there should be at least five different pairs there. Ten people. But that obviously isn't right since there are only nine."

"Lisanna, Levy, Lucy, Erza, and Juvia for the girls," Freed supplied.

"Gray, Natsu, Bickslow, and Gajeel for the boys," Mira recalled, "So someone is missing a partner."

"Since the idiots are short, it must be one of the girls," Laxus sighed, leaning back into the table, "But we can't waste time on trying to figure that out right now. What's the rest of the spell."

"Um," Freed peered back down at the flyer, "The next two characters are 'Youth' and 'Small'. We've figured this out since they shrunk to the size of a doll but the next line translates to 'Manipulation' and 'Still'."

Evergreen frowned, "_Still_ as in time or form?"

"Considering that it's paired with 'Manipulation' we can conclude that it is form," The Ecriture mage muttered, tapping his thumb against the hilt of his sword and frowning in thought, "We still don't understand what that means unless, for some reason, one of the spell's side affects would be solid paralyzation."

"Solid paralyzation?"

"It's where a body would cease to function for a certain amount of time," Freed explained, "But unlike some paralysis, they wouldn't limp but freeze to the spot instead. When in this state, one can be completely manipulated like a mannequin. Specialized Mage Doctors call this the 'Marionette Effect'."

"That doesn't sound to pleasant," Laxus muttered, eliciting murmurs of agreement from the people around them, "So we'll chalk this line up as a side-effect. What's the next one?"

"Let's see here," Freed turned back to the paper and lightly brushed the fourth line, "It has the two words 'Exposure' and another 'Pair' but I can't really understand that one so I'll reveal the last line as well." The green-haired mage squinted his eyes before pursed his lips and giving the group a conflicted look, "Well this one is easy. The last two words are 'Last' and 'Moment'."

* * *

"Ah! N-no! P-please don't make Juvia touch that!"

There was a round of chuckles as everyone surrounded the distressed Water mage, her eyes brimming with horror. Her eyes only widened further when the group pushed her hand further. Juvia wanted to desperately shake her head but she felt paralyzed from the neck down. She had complete control of everything else. He face, eyes, lips, etc.

"P-please!" The Water mage pleaded, "Juvia doesn't know where that's been! Juvia can clearly see the filth from here!"

"Come on, Juvia," Lisanna giggled, one of the many hands that were forcing the bluenette forward, "It's not like we're making you touch dog poop. It's only gum."

"Chewed up gum!"

"It's dry," Gajeel pointed out with a snicker, "You've touched worse, Rain Woman."

"Juvia refuses!" The namesake fumed, "Juvia does not care what she has touched in the past. Let it be animal secretion or some others, but Juvia refuses to touch anything that comes out of someone's mouth unless it was Gray-sama's!"

Gray immediately retracted his hand and took a step back. The others still snickered at her confession. Those being the likes of Gajeel, Bickslow, Lisanna, and - surprisingly - Levy as well. Erza was still trying to convince Master Mavis to explain the spell while Lucy sat off to the side and gave the bluenette an apologetic look. If Natsu was feeling better, she would probably have been there trying to help her out and would manage to convince Levy to help out, as well as recruiting Erza since Natsu would be in the fray.

Thankfully, when Juvia's hand was a normal-sized inch away from the gum, Asuka turned to them and beamed.

"Who wan't to play?" The Connell child asked excitedly, reaching towards the small group and scooping Juvia and Gray in her hands, "You two can be the first!"

"As long as Juvia doesn't have to touch that gum," The bluenette sighed in relief but since she couldn't move or turn her head on her own, she couldn't see who she was paired up with, "Who is Juvia's partner, Asuka-chan?"

"Gray-nii," The dark-haired child smiled, dutifully turning the woman around.

A soft gasp escaped Juvia's mouth before her face burned and promptly fainted. Well, they assumed she fainted because her eyes closed and her muscles relaxed but because the the bluenette was still 'stuck', they couldn't really know for sure. Her eyes were closed and her mouth slackened but other than that, the woman's body didn't move or insinuate that she fainted at all. But Juvia was unresponsive, so she must have lost consciousness... probably. Gray just sighed and went to shake his head but found that he couldn't. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he went to twist his neck again but once again found out that he couldn't.

"Oh crap," The Ice-make mage cursed, his lips pulling back into a frown.

"We have to get into position!" Asuka cried out happily, "Gray-nii and Juvia-nee will be evil magicians attacking the guild! And everyone will defend!" She set down both of who she named and faced them towards her doll house. She sent a look at the others and lowered her voice into a whisper so Gray and Juvia '_wouldn't hear_' her, "Gray-nii is actually the only bad guy. Juvia-nee follows him only because she likes him."

"Gihi," Gajeel snickered, "Sounds just about right."

Asuka sent the Iron Dragon Slayer a beaming grin, "Okay! Erza-nee and Gajeel-nii will be partner leaders. Erza-nee will be the first to attack and Gajeel-nii will be defending."

"What?" The long-haired male blanched, his smirk dropping from his face, "Why does Titania get to attack and I defend? It should be the other way around!"

"Erza-nee _needs_ to attack first!" The child stressed as if he were the seven year-old, not her, "You have to stay back and defend Levy-nee while she draws those thingies that Freed-nii likes to write, around the guild. You _need_ to protect Levy-nee."

The tiny bluenette flushed while Gray snickered this time, "Sounds just about right."

"Oh shut yer trap, Exhibitionist."

"What about us?" Lisanna asked the Connell child, pointing to herself, Bickslow, Natsu, and Lucy.

"You, Lisa-nee, will help Bicks-nii in the air!" Asuka clapped excitedly, her eyes twinkling in excitement, "And Natsu-nii will help Erza-nee protect Lucy-nee!"

"Um," The blonde pipped up and stood, seeing that the Fire Dragon Slayer was finally getting his color back, "I thought we were defending the Guild... not me."

"Papa told me that you always get kidnapped, Lucy-nee," The Connell child pointed out innocently.

In the distance, a certain Connell experienced a cold shiver run down his spine. No matter how innocent the child had been, Lucy felt anger thrum through her veins. Of course, what she was told wasn't _exactly_ a lie. But after all they've been through, she still couldn't believe what kind of reputation she built up in the guild. She'd prefer being labeled destructive like Natsu than be a 'damsel in distress' instead of... instead of that! That just sucked.

"I see," The Celestial mage muttered with an utterly calm voice that another shiver went down Alzack's spine.

"I made it so Gray-nii and Juvia-nee would be looking to take you away and destroy the guild!" Asuka smiled triumphantly.

Everyone sweat dropped, a sense of deja vu hitting them hard. This kid really had a big imagination, that is if Bisca and Alzack hadn't told the child about the Phantom Lord event. Although, judging by the reason why the child wanted the older version of Fairy Tail in the first place, then they probably did. All they needed to do was swap out Gray with Gajeel and they'd be set. However, when they offered it, the Connell refused. She said it was much more 'romantic' this way.

_Mavis save them all_.

"And what about me?" The first master asked the child loudly making the group lose all hope in salvation.

"Granny, you can be the Master!" Asuka cheered, her face beaming again, "Mama told you you were the master before, you can be the master again!" When the First Master gave the child an excited smile and an equally excited nod, the dark-haired Connell faced the group with an even larger smile, "Alright! Let me help you get into position!"

* * *

"Okay! I give!"

That's what Gajeel cried nearly an half-hour after playing with the child. His body was now as stiff as Gray's and Juvia's and he hated it. The child has been twisting and turning them around for the past five minutes since he first got stuck. He was currently 'running' towards Levy (to give her back up because Gray 'distracted' Erza, Natsu, Lisanna, and Bickslow as Juvia 'got past' the whole offensive line and started to head towards the two remaining Levy and Lucy) when his limbs started to stiffen and then promptly face planted the wooden bar.

The others laughed at him when his body continued to hold his running pose. He was unable to push himself up or even roll to his side to end the embarrassment. He hated it. He _hated_ it _all_.

Levy abruptly stopped her laughing nearly a minute after. Her eyes widened as she stiffened from where she was on her hands and knees, 'writing' runes around the doll house. Her gaze was stuck looking at her best friend who was precariously balancing on the roof of the first level. Her face must have shone panic because the blonde's eyes widened in concern.

"Levy-chan?" Lucy called down to the Script mage, "Are you alright?"

"Um," The tiny bluenette frowned, "I think I know what Juvia felt like when she first got... 'stuck'."

"Ya think!?" Gajeel roared angrily, his words coming out slightly muffled due to his face still being buried into the wood, "Will someone help me up!?"

The Iron Dragon Slayer nearly choked when someone grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him up roughly. He would have glared harshly at the person if only he could turn his neck. But judging by the scent, he was glad he couldn't. Titania would literally kick his ass, chop it off, and hand it to him on a silver sword. So when she balanced him so he was standing straight(_ish_) and walked back to her 'position', he mumbled a quick sound of gratitude and the red-head just waved it off.

The remaining 'unfrozen' people shifted uncomfortably in their spots, wondering who would be next. Thankfully, they didn't need to ask because the next few moments answered their silent question and a loud squeak of surprise but through the air. Everyone watched in horror as Lisanna's bird form dissolved, leaving the short-haired Strauss free-falling until Bickslow shot forward on his baby and managed to snatch her out of the air. The youngest Strauss' face bloomed pink as she opened her eyes and stared up at the Seith mage's chin.

"Thank you," She whispered quietly when the man slid over and gently sat her down on his baby's head.

Bickslow snickered and sent the short white-haired woman a large grin and patted her softly on her head, "Don't worry about it babe."

Natsu would like to think that he would have been the one who would've took the blunt of her fall if it wasn't for the quiet squeal that tumbled out of Lucy's mouth. His sensitive ears easily caught her noise of distress and when he turned towards her, his eyes widened in horror. Let it be said first that he was completely against letting the Celestial mage stand on the roof and vehemently expressed his hate for that suggestion. After seeing Juvia's weird condition, he didn't want to chance seeing his blonde partner freezing and tumbling off of the roof because she couldn't stop herself. However, they managed to get him to agree with it just to please Asuka. They promised to place her on a part of the roof where it was nearly impossible to fall off.

He reluctantly agreed when the blonde gave him a pleading smile but he knew it was going to happen. She's just that _weird_.

So when he watched Lucy's chocolate orbs widen in panic as she went to take a step forward, he instinctively knew what was going to happen next. The Dragon Slayer watched in horror as the Celestial mage's foot slipped off of the roof and she tumbled towards the bar. It wasn't supposed to be like that though. Lucy moved to hop off the roof just in case neither of them would have caught Lisanna but then her body suddenly stiffened mid-step and her eyes widened in horror. Suddenly off-balance and unable to move, the blonde tipped forward and her foot narrowly missed a firm foot-hold that would have saved her from falling.

Natsu was sprinting towards her in an instant. Despite being an impossible ways away, the Fire Dragon Slayer managed to reach the blonde halfway in her descent towards the bar top and leaped to catch her mid-air. He quickly twisted them around, tucking her closer to his chest while his back rammed against the walls of the doll house. Thankfully the house wasn't damaged but the speed he was going (added on with Lucy's extra weight), the wind was still knocked out of him and he let out a pained groan. He slid down the wall and landed on his butt, his arms tightening around the Celestial mage in relief.

Lucy wanted to scramble off of him and apologize but the stiffness prevented her from doing so. So instead, a red-hot flush bloomed on her cheeks while she patiently waited for Natsu to regain his breath.

"Sorry," She apologized quietly.

"Why are you apologizing, Weirdo?" Natsu laughed despite still feeling winded, "You're supposed to be thanking me, y'know?"

"Right," Lucy mumbled, another flush spreading through her cheeks, "Thank you, Natsu. For catching me but you didn't have to. Erza was right there."

The Dragon Slayer grinned widely, "I'm always gonna catch you, Luce. Besides, no harm done right?"

"Yeah," The Celestial mage managed a smile, "No harm done."

"Juvia-nee and Gray-nii's evil plans to capture Lucy-nee failed once again!" Asuka cheered from where she was sitting on the stool, drawing everyone's attention towards her larger form, "Natsu-nii caught the princess from falling into Juvia-nee's evil capturing magic!"

"N-now I'm a princess?" Lucy sweat-dropped, glaring at her salmon-haired partner when he started to laugh, "What are you laughing about?"

He continued to laugh through his answer, "I'm stuck."

"How's that funny?!"

"Lu-chan," Levy called to the blonde, her tone turning sly. Lucy desperately wanted to turn to her friend but knew she couldn't. "Look at how you froze."

The blonde felt her brows pull down in confusion before she managed to 'look' at how she froze. It was then when she realized that Natsu hadn't let her go since he caught her and she was still cradled against his chest. Now he was stuck too and she couldn't move either, it was just a huge scene of misunderstandings. She groaned, now it was up to one of the others to separate them.

"Juvia needs a break, Asuka-chan," The namesake breathed from her position on the side of the doll-house. The youngest Connell stared at the bluenette for a second before giving a small nod in agreement

She was supposed to be 'sneaking' up towards Lucy with intent of catching her. However, because of the whole fiasco earlier, that plan was quickly going down the drain. Asuka managed to save the whole game and twist the story around everyone's unplanned incident. The others agreed with what Juvia said though. Everyone was feeling tired already. They didn't know whether or not if it was because they were small, or if it was just because they were getting too old to keep up with the child.

"Too old," Gajeel scoffed, "We ain't even that old. It's just playin' with brats will tire anyone out. Age got nothin' to do with it."

"But you know what they say," Lisanna pointed out from where she was sitting next to Bickslow, "Only a child can counteract another child."

Gray snorted, "Then why's Flame Brain tired?"

"Shut up, Ice Freak," Natsu scowled, "I'd beat your ass but I can't move."

"Oh, yeah. _Great_ comeback."

"I agree with Juvia," Erza interjected before the verbal assaults began, walking towards Natsu and Lucy, "I think we all need a little breather from each other for a while. I'm going to take Lucy and Levy to see if Mira managed to get a breakthrough."

"Can you handle us both?" Lucy asked a little skeptically, "We're both frozen and I don't want to be a burden if you somehow get frozen too."

"We should be fine," The red-head smiled.

She bent down and managed to pry Natsu's arms away from the blonde, making him pout a little. He didn't dwell on that too much because the other guys were sending him smirks and he glared at each one of them. They don't have a reason to be smirking at him. Erza pulled Lucy to her feet and straightened her out so she could stand comfortably on her own feet before turning around and doing the same for Natsu. She then headed towards Levy and straightened her out too.

"I agree somewhat with Lu-chan," The tiny bluenette muttered softly after Erza led her towards the blonde and the Dragon Slayer, "But I do want to know more about this stiffness thing."

"I don't know..." Lucy trailed off reluctantly, "I just don't want to indirectly put us in danger. If it was just you and Erza then she'd at least have a free hand just in case."

"We should be fine," Erza repeated confidently, "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that my body freezing will be quite a while from now so we don't need to worry about that. Let's just focus on trying to lift this spell and get back to normal."

"Back to normal," Levy smiled wistfully while the red-head equipped to another one of her armors, "The first thing I'm going to do when we get back to normal is read a book."

"Really, Shrimp?" Gajeel snickered, "There's lots of stuff you can do and you wanna read a book?"

"Oh yeah?" The tiny bluenette challenged, "And what are _you_ going to do?"

"There's somethin' I've been dyin' to try," The Iron Dragon Slayer replied with a smirk, "But you aren't gonna know until we get back to normal."

"I'm going to go on a job when we return to our normal sizes," Gray announced suddenly.

"Juvia will go on a job as well," The bluenette agreed, "Not just because Gray-sama is going on one. Juvia has to pay this month's rent at Fairy Hills."

"_Rent_," Lucy groaned out at the word, "I totally forgot about that, I have to pay rent soon too. Here I was wishing to go home and sleep for a day. Now I have to go on a job."

"I'm gonna take Happy fishing," Natsu grinned, "We promised each other earlier."

"I'm going to help out Mira-nee like how I was this morning," Lisanna shrugged, "Maybe take a job later too."

"I'll be doing whatever Laxus-sama wants to do," Bickslow announced with a small shrug, "We're probably going to take a job to escape the guild for a while."

"I'll accompany Lucy on the job," Erza offered, smiling when the blonde looked at her gratefully, "We could do a good job with small pay. It's always nice to go with friends and create more memories than to go alone."

"Now you're all making me feel bad for wanting to read," Levy frowned, letting Erza tuck her in one arm and tuck Lucy under the other, "I feel obligated to take a job now too."

"If you want, you can come with us Levy," Erza smiled at the Script mage, "The more the merrier."

"We can make it a girls only job," Levy's eyes twinkled in excitement, "No guys allowed."

"Sounds like a plan," Lucy grinned, "That being said, the invitation extends out to you two as well. Juvia. Lisanna."

"Juvia agrees," The bluenette smiled, "As long as this isn't one of Love Rival's plans to distance Juvia from her Gray-sama and take him for herself, then Juvia is completely happy to agree to an all girls job. That isn't what you are planning. Right, Love Rival?"

"N-no."

"That does sound fun," Lisanna clapped her hands, "It'll be a nice break from all the destruction the guys do."

Despite the guys' protests to defend their honor, Erza and the other girls nodded in agreement, leaving the red-head to smile, "Then that is what we'll do. But for now, we will focus on getting back to normal. Lucy. Levy. Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Lucy grinned when Levy nodded back, "Let's do this."


End file.
